Research Interests

Published Work

Biographic Note

Robert G. Lynch is a Professor of Economics at Washington College, where he has taught since the fall of 1998. From 1983 to 1998, he taught at the State University of New York at Cortland where he served as Chair of the Department of Economics between 1991 and 1993. He also taught at Huanghe University (1985-86) in the People’s Republic of China. Dr Lynch has served as a consultant to numerous organizations including private businesses, governments, labor unions, and research organizations. His areas of specialization include International Economics, Public Policy, Public Finance, Economic Development and Comparative Economics. Dr. Lynch holds masters (1981) and doctoral (1984) degrees in Economics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a bachelor’s (1979) degree in International and Development Economics from Georgetown University.

Over the past 20 years Dr. Lynch has evaluated the adequacy and effectiveness of various state and local government economic policies, reviewed government economic growth strategies, and studied the efficiency, fairness, and stability of state and local tax systems.

He is the author of numerous works that have analyzed the effectiveness of state and local government economic policies in promoting economic development and creating jobs including his 2004 publication Rethinking Growth Strategies: How State and Local Taxes and Public Services Affect Economic Development. In addition, he has written papers that examined issues related to the definition and measurement of income inequality.

Other areas of his research assess the impact of public investment in early childhood education on government budgets, the economy, and crime. One of his most recent publications in this area is Exceptional Returns: Economic, Fiscal, and Social Benefits of Investment in Early Childhood Development (2004). Professor Lynch has had articles published in academic journals and by think tanks including the Journal of Comparative Economics, World Development, the Journal of Regional Studies, the Economic Development Quarterly, American Educator, State Tax Notes, the Economic Policy Institute, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, and the Fiscal Policy Institute.